Engaged
by Jojo6
Summary: S/J - Jacob finds out about Hansen. Now with a prequel!
1. Default Chapter

Title: Engaged 

Author: Jojo 

Read my fanfic at www.geocities.com/randomleaves/ 

Rating: PG 

Spoilers: The First Commandment, Season 6, Descent 

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 is an original MGM, Greenburg/Anderson, Gekko, Top Secret, Kawoosh! production. Any material relating to Stargate SG-1 is for entertainment only, and is in no way meant as an infringement on copyrights. In other words, I own nadda. 

* 

* 

* 

The atmosphere in the cargo ship was frigid. 

Jack didn't think he'd ever seen anything like it. Jacob was staring icily out the front, his jaw line tense, his facial muscles tight, his whole body taut with anger. Carter was vacillating between glaring at her father, glaring out of the front window, and glaring at Jonas - whose fault this mess had been in the first place. Jonas was hovering, uncertainly, wishing he'd never been born probably. He kept looking appealing at Jack but Jack couldn't think of a damn thing to say. 

Teal'c had made his escape about five minutes before the bomb had been dropped - lucky bastard - whereas Jack was unfortunate enough to be sitting (damn ship needed more seats) against one of the walls close to the front. He knew Carter could see him out of the corner of her eye and Jacob was hypersensitive anyway so he couldn't make a run for it without attracting their attention. 

*This* was why families shouldn't work together. 

Uncomfortably, Jonas shifted in between Carter and her dad. '' Um... I think I'll... go see Teal'c.'' 

When nobody responded, Jonas scurried off, wincing, his banana clutched tightly in his right hand. 

The silence in the cargo ship was the kind of cliché silence - the deafening kind. Jack decided he'd had enough of staring fixedly at his boots and it was time to deflate the tension. He eased himself up off the floor and meandered on over to Carter. Casually, he put a hand on her shoulder, though it wasn't casual at all. He planned every bodily contact they ever made down to the last detail. 

She looked up at him, and he saw at once that she was upset. He flicked his eyes over to Jacob, decided it was safe, and raised the hand from her shoulder to touch her cheek. Had they been alone, no doubt it would have gone further than that (not much further - they never went as far as they wanted), but for the time being that would have to do. 

'' Can I sit down, Carter?'' he asked testily, putting enough of a childish tone in his voice to make her smile. 

'' Sure, Colonel.'' Carter jumped up and slid past him, their hands brushing and tangling briefly before he dropped down into the chair with a sigh. 

He grabbed her arm suddenly. '' Hey, Carter, why don't you go and make sure Jonas isn't fiddling with anything back there? You know how he is.'' 

She smiled, properly, grateful for the reprieve. '' I'll do that, Colonel.'' 

Then it was just Jack and Jacob. Jacob and Jack. Dad and... Jack. 

Openly staring at Jacob now, Jack wondered how long it would take for the man to crack. Mentally he started counting. _One, two, three..._

'' Did *you* know?'' 

Jack nodded. Three seconds. Funny, it took Carter exactly the same amount of time as well. 

'' How long have you known?'' 

'' Five years... and five months.'' 

As with all things related to her, Jack pretty much had it recorded to memory in detail. He knew the most ridiculous things about Carter - things he would never admit to her. He knew what waist size she was, he knew what shoe size. He knew her birthday, the password for her computer. He knew her favourite colour. He knew what salon she used, her favourite shampoo. He knew the length of her ear at its longest axis (look, they were bored, in the infirmary, with a ruler, on numerous fun drugs), and her favourite movie, ice-cream flavour, pizza topping. 

'' Right.'' Jacob shook his head bitterly. '' That's fantastic. You knew. I didn't. Her CO knows more about her past than I do.'' 

Frankly, Jack had been pretty surprised too. The moment Jonas had brought it up, he'd expected Jacob to say something - Jack had always wondered what Jacob had thought about Hansen. He'd never expected Carter to have never told her father that she was engaged. 

'' Did you, um, even know the guy?'' 

'' I met him once. I didn't know it was serious.'' 

What? Had Carter and Hansen been really good actors? '' They didn't actually get married, Jacob. She was probably going to tell you, then when she broke it off,'' he shrugged, '' she decided she wouldn't bother.'' 

'' That's not the point.'' 

Jack sighed and had a feeling Jacob wasn't going to drop this anger on the journey home as he'd hoped. '' You're upset because it just shows how far apart you two had grown,'' Jack summarised, hoping he was somewhere in the vicinity of the truth. 

Jacob grunted. '' No. It just shows my daughter didn't feel I needed to know she was about to make the biggest decision of her life.'' 

'' She *didn't* make that decision.'' 

'' She was going too.'' 

'' She *didn't*.'' 

Jacob threw his hands out. '' She was engaged, Jack.'' 

'' She broke it off.'' Why was this not getting through to Jacob's brain? '' Selmak? A word please?'' 

Normally, Jack would avoid talking with the Tok'ra at all costs, but this Tok'ra had a special place in Jack's heart. Okay, that was such a lie. This Tok'ra didn't bug him because she, at least, had some measure of tact and knew when to keep quiet. He suspected it was also something to do with knowing Jacob before he became a host. Invariably with the Tok'ra, Jack was never sure when the host was speaking if he or she was being influenced by the snake. It made them really difficult to trust. At least with Jacob, it was so obvious who was in control. 

Jacob lowered his head, then lifted, and somehow his body took on an entirely different persona. **'' Colonel O'Neill.''**

'' Hey, what's up with Jacob?'' 

**'' It is as you said, Colonel O'Neill, he is angry that he allowed the relationship with his daughter to deteriorate to such an extent that she could not find it in herself to inform him that she had found a life partner.''**

'' Then why the hell isn't he over that already? He knows their relationship is better.'' 

**'' He is a very stubborn man.''**

Despite himself, Jack grinned. '' Too right. Give him a kick up the backside for me, would you Selmak?'' 

**'' Trust me, Colonel, the conversation we are having internally is not for the faint hearted.''**The head lowered and then came back up again. Jacob scowled. '' That was low, Jack. Even for you.'' 

'' You're upsetting her.'' 

'' You know she should have told me.'' 

'' Jacob, he wasn't the right man for her. Unconsciously, she probably knew that, which is why she didn't tell you.'' 

'' And if you had a daughter, and she didn't tell you she was getting married, how would you feel?'' 

Jack shook his head. '' It would never happen. My daughter would be able to tell me. That's the point, Jacob. Carter's a different woman from who she used to be. You're certainly... a changed man.'' 

'' So, if Sam got engaged tomorrow, she'd tell me?'' 

He opened his mouth to agree, then realised just how impossible that scenario was. 

Unfortunately, Jacob took it for confirmation of his worst fears. '' See? That's exactly what I thought.'' 

* 

Miserably, Sam sat down in the place her father had just vacated for her. She'd already had a go at Jonas, who was now cowering in the back with Teal'c, but that hadn't made her feel much better. In fact, it may have made her feel worse, because Jonas had done nothing wrong. He hadn't realised there were things they didn't talk about in front of her father. In fact, she had a feeling, the Colonel had no idea either. 

The fact of the matter was that Sam herself was in the wrong. She knew that. She should have told her father - if not when she'd been engaged to Jonas Hansen, then at least afterwards. It had taken her five months of wearing the engagement ring before she'd finally given it back - during that time she'd had numerous opportunities to tell her dad she was about to take a big personal step. 

It just hadn't seemed right. Each time she'd picked up the phone, it hadn't felt right. The words wouldn't come to her lips: _Dad, I'm marrying Jonas._

Colonel O'Neill reached across and touched her shoulder with his fingers. Needing some comfort, Sam lifted her hand and clasped his warm fingers. '' I really screwed up,'' she said, shakily. 

'' He does know you didn't have the best father-daughter relationship.'' 

'' But that's not the reason I didn't tell him.'' 

The Colonel frowned. '' What is then?'' 

'' It never felt right. Nothing during that engagement felt right. You know?'' But then, he'd been married, happily married, too. Probably everything had felt right in the beginning for him. 

'' You're not talking about nerves? Coz those are natural.'' 

She shook her head. '' No. I didn't have nerves. I had great... looming... doubts.'' 

He half smiled at her. '' Well, obviously they were built in a great foundation. The guy was nuts.'' 

Sam's heart twinged with sadness. '' We would have been terrible together. We fought like... nothing I'd ever experienced before.'' 

'' Why the hell did you get engaged?'' 

'' Because I loved him.'' 

The Colonel's fingers tightened reflexively in hers. '' You loved him,'' he repeated. 

Sam turned to look at him, seeing the worry in his eyes. '' I did, yes. But not....'' She left the rest of the sentence unspoken and watched as he comprehended, and nodded. 

Silently, they let go of each others hands and sat back in the Goa'uld chairs, watching through the front as they travelled through space. It was on the return journeys from missions that Sam was allowed to finally admire the view, remember the awe of it. She'd always wanted to go into space and now here she was - long before Earth's time. 

She must have made some noise, because she saw his head tilt towards her. '' What?'' 

'' It's great, isn't it?'' 

'' Now you're sounding like Jonas. Er, the second one.'' 

She giggled. '' You know, until recently, it never really clicked that he and Jonas have the same name.'' 

'' It's certainly spooky.'' 

'' Maybe we should make a collective effort to call him Quinn.'' 

'' No. No more second names in this team.'' She laughed as he made a face. '' I'm not going to have to browbeat two of you to call me 'Jack' when we're on downtime.'' 

'' You know, I noticed the other day that you're the only one who calls me 'Carter'.'' 

He grinned at her. '' Ah. I wondered when you'd realise.'' 

'' You already knew?'' 

'' Why do you think I don't complain about it so much anymore?'' 

'' Oh.'' She was a little disappointed. '' You could have told me.'' 

'' Please, I like having my little guilty secrets.'' 

The Colonel was deliberately trying to keep her mind off her father, and she liked it. Didn't mean it was working, but it did mean she found him all the more endearing. '' Beyond the big guilty secret, you mean?'' she teased. 

He waggled his eyebrows at her, then leaned across. '' Um, about the big guilty secret...'' He trailed off, his eyes going to the right. 

Sam followed his gaze and saw her father had walked into the room. '' Dad,'' she said, coolly. 

'' The next time you get engaged, Samantha Carter, I want to know. I don't care where I am - you get a message through to me.'' 

Sam swallowed. '' Dad...'' 

'' I want your solemn promise.'' 

A promise? Oh God. '' Um...'' 

'' Sam,'' he said threateningly, his eyes practically bulging out of his head. 

She glanced, panicking, towards the Colonel, who was also wide-eyed and afraid. 

'' Jacob,'' he began consolingly. 

'' You keep out of this, Jack. Sam?'' 

Sam licked her lips, looking between her father and the Colonel, her father and the Colonel. The Colonel shrugged minutely, making his opinion clear: it was all up to her. She sighed. '' Dad, in that case, there's something I've got to tell you.'' 

'' *What*?'' 

She swallowed. '' Um, about three months ago... shortly after, we lost the mothership... you remember when we were trapped in the... well, the water was rising and... and...'' 

Jacob was now looking between the Colonel and his daughter. '' What? What about it? Go on.'' 

'' Well....'' 

Finally, the Colonel managed to help her out, '' I proposed,'' he blurted. 

'' And I said yes.'' Sam said on an out-breath. 

'' I thought we were gonna die,'' he explained quickly. 

'' But we didn't.'' 

'' So I said it still stood.'' 

'' And I said my answer was still the same.'' 

They looked at each other shyly, then back at her father. 

Jacob blinked. Twice. 

For a long moment, he stood perfectly still, then his head lowered and rose again. **'' Samantha, Colonel O'Neill, Jacob is currently unable to form a coherent sentence. May I offer you my felicitations in his absence?''**

Sam and Colonel O'Neill smiled wanly and sat back in their chairs. 

**'' For the time being, I shall remove** **Jacob from the area. I think it would be best if we went to lie down.''**

Softly, Selmak walked off. 

'' Well, that could have been worse,'' Jack murmured a second or two later. 

Frankly, Sam couldn't see how. That really hadn't been the way she wanted to tell her father. Then again, how else was she going to tell him? And this time, she definitely had been. '' *How* could it have been worse than that?'' 

'' He could have a weapon. And then I'd be dead.'' 

'' Good point.'' 

'' It felt right, though?'' Jack asked in concern. 

Sam smiled. '' Well... thinking about it, I don't imagine there was any better way to tell him. We're in space. On an alien ship. Still in the Air Force. I'm still your 2IC. It was probably the most honest way to do it. At least he knows the whole score.'' 

'' So it felt right?'' 

'' Yeah. It did.'' 


	2. Proposal

Title: Proposal 

Author: Jojo 

Email: randomleaves@yahoo.co.uk 

Rating: PG 

Archive: My site, Heliopolis 

Summary: Prequel to Engaged - but I'd much rather you read Engaged first. This one spoils Engaged completely and the whole point of Engaged is that you're not supposed to get it until the very end. So, READ ENGAGED FIRST. 

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 is an original MGM, Greenburg/Anderson, Gekko, Top Secret, Kawoosh! production. Any material relating to Stargate SG-1 is for entertainment only, and is in no way meant as an infringement on copyrights. In other words, I own nadda. 

Spoilers: Season Six. Descent in a BIG way. 

Status: Complete 

* 

* 

* 

''Dad, the door's closing behind us!'' 

''It's a security measure,'' Jake said across the radio. ''All doors are sealed around the breach. I'll try to open it from here.'' 

Jack looked down at the ground wearily, watching the clear, icy water run over his boots. He realised he should have seen this coming as soon as he'd seen the water leaking out across the ground. *Of course* the doors would seal around a hull breach. *Of course* they would be trapped inside a room rapidly filling with water. *Of course*. 

He sought for something to say to her, looking so pale and worried as she was. Something reassuring. Nothing came to mind but, ''Bit chilly.'' 

She gave him a vague look, distracted as she was by the rising water level. Then she depressed her radio switch. ''Dad, how's it going with that door?'' 

''It's gonna take some time.'' 

*Of course* it was. 

Frustrated, Sam waded over to the controls there were within the room. She started doing her thing, pulling out what she could and examining it. Earth technology Jack could pretty much get to grips with. But Goa'uld? Pretty crystals all in a row? How was that gonna light up your house? 

''Well this is fun,'' he murmured. 

''Why do we always get stuck in these kinds of mess?'' Sam demanded, shoving a crystal out of place viciously. 

''I don't know. God, this is cold.'' 

''Sorry, sir, I can't bypass the system locally,'' she said in tones of immense frustration. 

Enough was enough. This water was *really* cold, no exaggeration. He was having flashbacks to Antarctica, it was *that* cold. ''Jacob?'' he called into the radio. 

''Yeah. Without the proper codes I can't access the security programme.'' There was a pause while Jack tried not to think about just how numb his feet were and just how fast that water was rising. ''I'm gonna try and find a back door to the programme. 

''How long's that gonna take? I'm looking at some major shrinkage here.'' He raised his eyebrows at her and she smiled faintly. 

''I don't know. This is kind of a unique situation. Give me a few more minutes.'' 

Jack looked at the water that had risen waist high. Oh yeah. A few minutes. Fine. Dandy. Just *perfect*. 

He looked over to Carter again. ''How long do you think this is gonna fill up?'' 

''Few more minutes.'' 

''Yup.'' Just what he'd thought. 

They started taking off the clothes. 

''Well,'' he managed as his weapons floated off, his feet were exposed to the icy water, ''this is romantic.'' 

She rolled her eyes very quickly. ''Yes, sir.'' 

He felt his feet leave the ground and guessed it was swimming time. He'd hated water exercises as a cadet and they hadn't improved with age. Getting your uniform off - never very easy in the first place - whilst half-drowning wasn't exactly simple. 

Jack couldn't believe it. His mothership was falling to pieces all around him. Why did this happen to him? Why couldn't he keep a mothership intact? 

*God* this water was cold. 

''Next time we crash our brand new mothership, what do ya say we do it in the tropics?'' he suggested. 

Desperately trying to keep her head across water, Carter responded in her usual scientific fashion, ''Actually sir, it wouldn't make a difference. At this depth all water is ice cold.'' 

Well, he'd known that. Somewhere in the back of his mind it rang a bell. But that wasn't the point. It wasn't as if he was being serious. ''Shallower water, then, *shallower*.'' 

''Yes sir. I'll keep that in mind.'' 

He nearly laughed. ''Or we could just not crash at all. Be nice to keep our nice, new mothership more than a couple of hours.'' 

She half choked. ''Yes, sir.'' 

He started to float towards her. Not intentionally - the water was, after all, flowing in from behind him. It was the current that was pushing him towards her. It wasn't as if he deliberately wanted to bump into her. Nope. Not at all. 

''Carter, we're about to drown, do you think you could drop the 'sir'?'' 

''You called me Carter,'' she pointed out pedantically. 

''Sam,'' he said, his mouth dipping into the water. 

''Jack.'' She spluttered, coughed as she swallowed some water. 

For a moment, Jack didn't feel the cold at all. He reached out and grabbed hold of her, trying to help her keep afloat. They drifted closer together. ''Hey, never say I don't take you nice places.'' 

One of her arms (deliberately? accidentally) sort of floated around his shoulders and neck. Her hand grabbed hold of his T-shirt. ''I promise. I'll never say that,'' she said, shaking wet hair out of her eyes. 

Not feeling the cold at all now, which was either because he'd gone numb or because she was wet and *really* close to him, Jack grinned at her. They bobbed up and down together. ''So....'' 

''So...?'' she pressed. 

''How long do you think we've got left?'' 

She glanced up at the ceiling. ''About a minute. Maybe less.'' 

Their heads started bumping the ceiling and Jack winced. ''God. Um, Sam?'' 

''Yeah?'' 

He let go of her to hold his hands against the ceiling and she copied him. ''How do you feel about marriage?'' 

She didn't even pause. ''In general or in reference to me?'' 

''In reference to you. And...'' God, why was he doing this now? Oh yeah, because they were *drowning* ''... me.'' 

''Oh.'' 

What kind of an answer was that? And how could he be nervous about what she was going to say when he was about to die? ''Oh?'' 

''I mean... I feel... pretty warmly towards it.'' 

She did? Wow. 

''Right.'' 

He couldn't think of anything else to say. 

''Jack?'' 

Jerking his thoughts away from the fact that she felt 'warmly' towards the idea, Jack focussed. ''Yeah?'' 

''Was that a proposal?'' 

He half-smiled, thinking she looked really adorable wet. ''I guess it was.'' 

''Okay, then.'' 

Okay then? Okay to what? To the proposal? To the fact that it was a proposal. 

Ah, hell, they were gonna drown anyway.... 

''Sam?'' 

''Yeah?'' 

''Was that a yes?'' 

''To the proposal?'' 

She was winding him up. They were up to nose level with water and she was winding him up. She was *perfect*. ''Yes, to the proposal, Sam.'' 

She smiled. ''It was.'' 

Jack grinned. ''Right.'' 

Another wave of water moved them closer to the ceiling and he found his nose pressed against it. ''Your dad's cutting it pretty close......'' Then the water overwhelmed him. 

* 

The moment the water started to go down, all they could do was suck in breaths of air. She was aware that he was holding her up, grabbing her by the back of the T-shirt, and she loved that even after nearly dying he thought about her. 

Of course... that may well have something to do with the conversation they'd been having before. 

The moment her feet touched the ground, Sam breathed a sigh of relief. 

''I'll second that,'' he said, still holding on to her. Slowly, he rose to his full height, a good couple of inches above hers. ''Ah, Carter...'' 

Oh God. ''Don't,'' she said quickly, closing her eyes. 

''Sam...'' 

''Don't do that either.'' 

He reached out and gripped her hand. ''I *meant* it.'' 

One eye opened. ''You did?'' 

''What? You think I propose to women for fun?'' 

Well, no... ''You meant it,'' she repeated. 

''Yes.'' 

''Oh.'' 

''Oh? Carter? Oh? Is that all you have to say?'' 

She laughed weakly, her lungs still strained. ''What do you want me to say? We can't get married, even if we wanted too. You're my CO.'' 

''I don't mean immediately!'' 

She blinked, looked down at their clasped hands, floating between them. ''Not immediately. So.. we're what? Engaged?'' 

''Depends.'' 

''What?'' 

''Depends on whether your answers still the same now that we're not dying.'' 

Was he kidding? Did he seriously think she would say 'no' to that? ''Of course my answers still the same. So long as your proposal stands.'' 

''It still stands.'' 

''Well, then, so does my answer.'' 

They stared at each other. 

_Holy Hannah_, Sam thought. _I just got engaged to my CO._

__''Jack, Sam, come in.'' 

She let go of his hand and half-turned away instinctively, almost trying to protect Jack from her father. ''Dad, this is Sam. We're okay.'' Better than okay, actually. 

''Thank God, Sam, you had us all worried,'' her father said, relieved. 

''Tell him I take back everything I was thinking underwater.'' 

''Whatever you did,'' Sam said into her radio, ''it worked.'' 

''I didn't do anything, the security protocol erased itself.'' 

She frowned. ''Wait a minute, how's that possible?'' By itself? How? There was no way... Unless... 

''I don't know.'' 

''Who cares?'' the Colonel said impatiently. ''Let's go.'' 


End file.
